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#iSoc12 The DataTank: WIP

Jan already wrote a blogpost which explains what The DataTank is and what we are working on. As The DataTank is a data publishing platform, there is not a lot we can show in this blogpost. But I can tell you a bit more about our progress.

So, what did we do in the past week? Jan fixed lots of bugs in The DataTank, like some bugs in the xml formatter and the csv importer. He also published an updated version of the Gentse Feesten data on the website data.appsforghent.be.

I am still working on the abstract filter layer in The DataTank. The purpose of it is to make it a lot easier to implement new kinds of datafilters. To test the abstract filter layer I’m also implementing an SQL-filter. What is the use of these extensions? When the SQL-filter is finished, you will be able to ask The DataTank for example all data of the “Gentse Feesten” which take place in a certain radius around your current location. Or all events which contain the term “Bloemenmarkt” in the title. This way programmers don’t have to download all the data and do the filtering themself, but they can just ask The DataTank and get only the data they want.

The abstract filter layer is taking form, but it still needs a lot of work. So we will continue working on that. Stay tuned!